Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin

by John D'Emilio

One of the most important figures of the American civil rights movement, Bayard Rustin taught Martin Luther King Jr. the methods of Gandhi, spearheaded the 1963 March on Washington, and helped bring the struggle of African Americans to the forefront of a nation's consciousness. But despite his incontrovertibly integral role in the movement, the openly gay Rustin is not the household name that many of his activist contemporaries are. In exploring history's Lost Prophet, acclaimed historian John D'Emilio explains why Rustin's influence was minimized by his peers and why his brilliant strategies were not followed, or were followed by those he never meant to help.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Race, LGBT, Queer, Politics

592 pages, Paperback

First published August 5, 2003

About the author

John D'Emilio is a professor emeritus of history and of women's and gender studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He taught at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He earned his B.A. from Columbia College and Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1982, where his advisor was William E. Leuchtenburg. He was a Guggenheim fellow in 1998 and National Endowment for the Humanities fellow in 1997 and also served as Director of the Policy Institute at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force from 1995 to 1997.

Reviews

[Peter William Warn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bayard Rustin was a pacifist, a socialist and a black man. He dedicated himself tirelessly for more than six decades to activism around the world to promote peace, secure economic justice and eliminate racial inequality. Among his accomplishments was the pivotal 1963 March on Washington, which Rustin organized and from which Martin Luther King proclaimed to the world, "I have a dream."

Rustin also was homosexual, but he engaged in almost no gay activism. He might never have engaged in any if he had not, at age 65, fallen in love with Walter Naegle, his partner until Rustin died in 1987 at age 75. Naegle encouraged him to lobby his friend New York City Mayor Ed Koch and the city's legislators in the mid-1980s to pass a gay and lesbian civil rights law that had been stalled for years, and which was enacted in 1986. Rustin testified in words that remain true two decades later:

There are very few liberal Christians today who would dare say anything other than blacks are our brothers and they should be treated so, but they will make all kinds of hideous distinctions when it comes to our gay brothers. . . . There are great numbers of people who will accept all kinds of people: blacks, Hispanics, and Jews, but who won't accept fags. That is what makes the homosexual central to the whole political apparatus as to how far we can go in human rights.

In part, the decision to refrain from gay activism even as he engaged in activism of almost every other variety was made for Rustin. He was, for example, fired from the Fellowship for Reconciliation, an influential pacifist organization for which he had done invaluable work, because he was arrested in 1953 for having sex with two men.

After that, Rustin refrained voluntarily from speaking out about oppression of homosexuals because he wanted to protect the racial civil rights movement into which he had invested so much. He knew that his homosexuality, about which was never secret even when he was not outspoken, could be used against the movement. It was, especially by J. Edgar Hoover's FBI and by the segregationist U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond.

Rustin also faced enemies within the movement, chief among them Adam Clayton Powell, the U.S. Representative from Harlem. Powell sought to gain for himself a more influential position by denigrating Rustin. He threatened to leak fabricated allegations of a sexual affair between Rustin and King. Powell demanded that King distance himself from Rustin, who had helped King develop from a regional leader into an international icon. King gave in and was rebuked by James Baldwin and others who rallied to Rustin's defense. King and Rustin worked together after that and Rustin accompanied King to Oslo in 1964 when King received the Nobel Prize for Peace, but their friendship never fully recovered.

To protect the movement, Rustin avoided the spotlight as much as he could, although his engineering the March on Washington landed him on the cover of Life magazine, along with his mentor, A. Philip Randolph, who had envisioned a similar march in 1941 but called it off because Franklin Roosevelt asked him to.

In Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin, the historian John D'Emilio puts Rustin's homosexuality in the context of his life's work as a champion of peace and justice. D'Emilio's work is an illuminating account of the unceasing and visionary activism that earned Rustin such nicknames as "the American Gandhi" and "the Socrates of the civil rights movement." The book is detailed, but it is not the definitive biography that its complex and influential subject deserves.

Choosing a title that suggests the subject is a prophet promises that the work will ring with the subject's voice. Lost Prophet does not. D'Emilio quotes Rustin only in small bits and pieces, giving his readers little sense of the eloquence that enabled Rustin to wield vital influence over efforts to end desegregation in the United States. D'Emilio repeatedly calls attention to his relegation of Rustin's own writing and oratory to the back of the biographical bus. He quotes someone as saying Rustin gave a "brilliant talk" but offers no sample of it, and he quotes many others in the same "take my word for it" way. It would have been more effective had D'Emilio used Rustin's own words to show his brilliance rather than the words of others to tell us about it.

Lost Prophet also is marred by at least a few conspicuous errors. The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party is sometimes identified by its correct acronym but sometimes as the MFPD. D'Emilio mentions the farm on which Whitaker Chambers hid documents related to the espionage case against Alger Hiss, but he places the Maryland farm in Virginia. A reader who notices these small mistakes can't help but wonder if the book contains more serious ones as well.

In his acknowledgements, D'Emilio thanks his boyfriend, Jim Oleson: "He's the only person happier than I am that the book is done and that Bayard has finally taken leave of our premises so that now we can get on with the rest of our life together." That's nice, but one wonders whether D'Emilio might have written the definitive biography if he had let Rustin stay around a bit longer. Lost Prophet is a worthwhile introduction to a man about whom more remains to be written.

[Ardene · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been curious about Bayard Rustin for awhile, so when I ran across Lost Prophet: the life and times of Bayard Rustin of course I had to read it. I knew of him as an organizer with the civil rights movement that Martin Luther King, Jr. distanced himself from because of his past involvement with the communist party & his homosexuality.

I'm always surprised, and I'm not sure why, when I read about a figure I consider heroic to find out the depth and length of their committment to something.

Rustin was involved in anti-war activism and civil rights work from the 1930s until he died in the 80s, and served a two-year prison term in the 1940s for refusing to serve in the armed forces during World War II.

He participated in a "journey of reconciliation" in 1947 to test the Supreme Court ruling declaring segregation on interstate transport illegal, prefiguring the fight in Montgomery almost 10 years later.

He was also involved internationally in the peace movement and with the fight against colonialism in Africa.

And he was a proud out gay man when no one was out of the closet. This cost him, particularly when he was arrested on a morals charge in the 50s. He did a lot of behind the scenes work because his homosexuality made him (and the organizations he worked with) vulnerable to politcally motivated attacks.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great biography! The author had set out to write about the 1960's, ended up fascinated with Bayard Rustin and wrote a biography. Not only is it the story of an amazing man, but it's a history of the entire civil rights movement! Just extraorrdinary!

[Wesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

The man truly behind the big ideas of the civil rights movement, and the execution of those ideas, was Bayard Rustin. His story is fascinating and important historically. His sexual orientation shrouded his visibility in the movement, but this book shines a light on his significance.

[Darryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bayard Rustin was one of Dr. Martin Luther King's most trusted and valued advisors, but he was marginalized by others in the movement, as he was a Communist and an openly gay man. He played a vital role in several key points of the movement, and this excellent book brings his previously hidden story to life.

[Dan Petegorsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finally got around to reading this, and am really glad I did. D'Emilio succeeds in giving us a not just a wonderful biography, but also consistently clear discussions of strategic choices facing the civil rights and other movements from the '40s through the '60s, many of which are compellingly similar to choices we face today.

[Gary Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin by John D’ Emilio.

This 564 page biography is an excellent narrative of this civil rights leader.
A black man. A gay man. A Quaker. A pacifist. I found the book very interesting partly because I fit into 3 of the four categories, but also because I remember living through the black civil rights in the 60’s and also the Vietnam War.

Bayaard Rustin served time in jail because he refused to serve in World War I. He served time in jail because of his civil rights activities. He served time in jail because of “moral” charges.

The author relives this part of our history but adds the element of how the black civil rights leaders (King, Abernathy, Carmichael etc) reacted to Rustin’s gayness. The author also explains how the peace movement reacted to it as well.

An excellent book giving us a new perspective on the black civil rights movement of the 60’s. A recommended read.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned vast amounts of information while reading about Bayard Rustin's life. He was a peace and civil rights activist from WWII up through the 80s. It was fascinating to learn all those details that I never knew and how his sexuality kept him marginalized, even though he was a major player in the civil rights movement.

Great read. Everyone will learn lots.

[Nancy Mott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and highly recommend it. Bayard Rustin was a pacifist, radical, and brilliant thinker, strategist and organizer,and all these qualities were important to his role as organizer of the 1963 March on Washington.

The "lost prophet" part refers to the fact that as an out gay man, ("homosexual" in those days), he needed to stay in the background and indeed was *kept* in the background by other civil rights leaders who feared (as probably he did also) that his visibility could damage the credibility of the movement.

[Shortly before the March itself his sexuality and arrest years earlier for 'perversion' was brought up in Congress. Indeed, the J Edgar Hoover charged that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rustin were lovers; the charge was false but nevertheless caused King to distance himself for a while from Rustin. Rustin was deeply hurt but had, as someone pointed out, an incredible capacity to forgive. He simply refused to hold onto grudges. So later he and King repaired the rupture and Rustin continued to hold an important advisory role to King.]

A line that inspired me was something a long-time friend, Franny Lee, said to him: "The joyous thing for me about you...is that the setbacks have never set the direction. You still see the road ahead (p. 358)."

Rustin clearly had skills and gifts that were indispensable to the movement, and A. Philip Randolph, founder and leader of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, made sure Rustin's role in the March was not undermined. When Randolph, the official chair of the March was challenged by the press about the charges made against Rustin and asked if Randolph would remove Rustin from his role, Randolph declared simply and firmly, "Bayard Rustin IS the March on Washington."

Quite possibly no one else could have pulled off the tremendous success of the march: in spite of dire predictions and the deep misgivings of President Kennedy and his administration, 250,000 people gathered to march, to sing, to proclaim with King the Dream of full equality and justice: finally a true democracy.

As assassinations and white backlash gave fuel to the Black Power movement, Rustin never gave up his advocacy of nonviolent resistance. In a public meeting in NYC following the Birmingham church bombing that killed four little girls, Rustin sensed the crowd's visceral rage quite ready to explode. He "suddenly pointed a long finger at the audience and shouted, 'If there is anyone here who advocates VIOLENCE as a solution, LET HIM STAND UP!..Let him stand up and I will show you someone who proposes to do NOTHING! (p. 361)." The usefulness of violence, he believed, amounts to nothing.

Of particular interest to those interested in gay history is how Rustin navigated the issues his sexuality presented to his life and work. While his mission was racial and economic justice, he never denied his sexuality. He pointed out while he had not been in the forefront of the early gay rights struggle, yet the day had come that treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons had now become the acid test of U.S. social fairness and justice. "[P]rejutice," he said, "is of a single bit. [In the past] the barometer of people's thinking was the black community. Today, the barometer of where one is on human rights questions is no longer the black, it's the gay community."

Discussing the role of churches in the struggle for justice, Rustin declared 'there are very few liberal Christians today [late 1960's] who would dare say anything other than blacks are our brothers and they should be treated so, but they will make all kinds of hideous distinctions when it comes to our gay brothers...There are great numbers of people who accept all kinds of people: blacks, Hispanics, and Jews, but who won't accept fags. That is what makes the homosexual central to the whole political apparatus as to how far we can go in human rights."

Of great and unexpected interest to me in this book to was Rustin's understanding of how social progress demands two different tools or phases: Protest and Politics. That while they may share the same goals they require quite different strategies, and that protest alone does not and will not accomplish social change. I had never thought about this quite so clearly and wanted to see more in Rustin's own words so I put in a call to inter-library loan for the collection of his writings, "Time on Two Crosses." (In other words, more later.)

Addendum: "Time on Two Crosses" helps one see much more clearly how foundational Rustin's Christian faith was to his life and work. He identified all his life as both a Quaker and a Christian. I have to say that as fine as "Lost Prophet" is, it seems to me the importance of his faith in motivation and empowerment of his life and work is under-played.

Nevertheless "Lost Prophet" is a great book and a fascinating read. I highly recommend it.

[Brian]

This book breathed life into a civil rights icon and illuminated the past 100 years of civil rights history like no other. I stumbled on Bayard Rustin in the exhibits at the superb Birmingham Civil Rights Institute early this summer. It was astounding to find that an openly gay black man was the principal architect of the 1963 March on Washington and served as a key mentor to Martin Luther King on Gandhian pacifism. Though I enjoyed Jervis Anderson's "Bayard Rustin: Troubles I've Seen," it focused on his public life and gave short shift to his personal life. Lost Prophet managed to capture the whole, flawed man, illustrating the tension in balancing the glare of public life with the verve of an active gay life in a deeply homophobic culture.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting biography of Bayard Rustin, an important civil rights leader and pacifist. A recurring theme of the book is the severe limits on Rustin's effectiveness that resulted from the reactions of his fellow activists to his homosexuality.

[Patrice Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

You don't African American history until you read this book. Absolutely eye-opening.

[Omolade Roddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!!!

[Mark Ehlers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bayard Rustin was an incredible human being who played a major, if understated, role in the U.S. civil rights movement of the 20th century. Largely overlooked by historians, John D'Emilio explains how Rustin introduced King to the principles of Gandhian non-violence, helped organize the Montgomery bus boycott, and almost single-handedly orchestrated the March on Washington in 1963. But he also details Rustin's many experiences and actions as a civil rights activist well before he met King; the first Freedom Rides in 1947 (Journey of Reconciliation) and many other actions that occurred in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, as well as Rustin's commitment to pacifism. All of which makes for an incredible life.

Rustin’s influence on King remained fairly consistent over the years. Although there were periods of estrangement due to reactions and concerns over Rustin’s sexuality, Rustin influenced not only King’s commitment to nonviolence and engagement with politics, but he encouraged King to think beyond the demise of Jim Crow toward a more expansive movement that linked justice for black Americans to economic and social justice for all Americans. Rustin worked to build coalitions with labor unions and others to increase living standards and provide jobs for those on the lower rungs of society. By 1965, he had embraced the political process as the most effective means to advance the causes of economic justice and human rights.

In later years, Rustin’s pacifism would be challenged by a growing chorus of more militant blacks, who chanted “Black Power” and advocated racial separatism. But Rustin’s principles never wavered. He stood his ground in public debates with Malcolm X in the early 1960s and later, Stokely Carmichael, when Carmichael disavowed nonviolence as an effective tool of social protest.

Rustin’s commitment to human rights was universal. Strongly allied with the Jewish community, he fought anti-Semitism with the same intensity as he fought racism. He was a strong advocate for Israel and the plight of Soviet Jewry. In his later years, he publicly advocated the rights of gays and lesbians. “[P]rejudice is of a single bit,” he said. “There are great numbers of people who will accept all kinds of people: blacks, Hispanics, and Jews, but who won’t accept [gays]. That is what makes the homosexual central to the whole political apparatus as to how far we can go in human rights.”

Author John D'Emilio does a very fine job of bringing all of this to life in this engaging and well-written book. My only fault with the book is a perhaps slight over-emphasis on Rustin's sexuality and a failure to focus a little more on the last 20 years of his life. But it is a very interesting book and I highly recommend it.

[MaryJo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew that Bayard Rustin was the person behind the march on Washington for Jobs and Justice in 1963 where Martin Luther King gave his “I have a dream” speech. I knew that he was gay, and that that was one of the reasons he was often behind the scenes. But I did not know about his central role in promoting and enacting nonviolent confrontation in the politics of left movements in twentieth century US. John D’Emilio’s biography provides a fascinating account of Rustin’s life, and through that a new lens for viewing radical politics in the United States. Rustin grew up in a Quaker environment and was himself a Quaker. In 1941 he went to work for the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and went to prison during WWII as a conscientious objector. Everywhere he went, including prison, he organized and participated in nonviolent actions. He seemed to have worked with and for most of the organizations the pacifist movement. He traveled widely, including Europe, Africa and India. In the 40s he became more and more involved in civil rights struggles. However, in 1953, Rustin was arrested for lewd vagrancy and spent two months in jail in Pasadena. At the time attacks on reputations through red-baiting were growing—and many progressives, including Rustin, had previous associations with the CP to manage. No one was ready to publicly defend homosexuality--especially not in the church- related organizations that were his base. This arrest became a handicap for Rustin, pretty much until the rise of the gay liberation movement in the 1970s. Rustin was a target for Hoover and the FBI, who strategically leaked information about his arrest record in order to discredit the civil rights movement. Brilliant,courageous,and charismatic, Rustin still is described as an "outsider"--the costs of being gay in that time and place. Phillip Randolph was always a supporter, and provided an institutional home for Rustin in his last decades. The connection to labor unions created tensions with Rustin’s more radical colleagues in the civil rights struggles, and Rustin never supported Black Power or separatist movements. Still he seems to have been everywhere and done everything from the 1940s through the 1980s. D Emilio says that Rustin was a very private person; this bio is mostly based on the public record—newspaper accounts, records of the many organizations he worked with, speeches he gave. There is less about the private person. He has a big life, but the private person eludes us. I was drawn to the book partly because of D’Emilio’s work on gay history. D'Emilio provides useful information situating what we do know in the context of the homophobia of times.

[James Carmichael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sympathetic and detailed look at the life of Bayard Rustin, particularly focusing on his activities through the late 1960s (the latter part of his life is given very condensed treatment). Fascinating for anyone interested in the Civil Rights movement, pacifist movement, or the interactions and infighting between the new left, old left, and (i guess you'd say, and to a lesser extent) communist left in the US.

D'Emilio's central thesis -- that, for all the impact Rustin had, he might have had more and would certainly have had a more centered life had he not been the victim of tremendous bigotry as a homosexual -- feels believable after reading the book, and lends the narrative a frequently sad air.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an absolutely fantastic book. It's a thorough biography about the man who introduced Gandhi's nonviolence to MLK... although Rustin was deeply involved in the peace movement for decades before and after that. I learned an enormous amount about US history, activism, and one particular man who shaped a huge amount of how we view nonviolence in the United States.

A dense book, but so well-written that it was still easy to read and pulled me in. It was never hard to pick back up. Highly recommended if you want to know about the peace movement from WWII through the late 1960's, the struggle for Civil Rights for African Americans, and the challenges faced by openly gay men before gay liberation.

[Michel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bigotted civil rights leaders?
Now here's something I never thought… What am I talking about? The entire black leadership supported Clinton in '08 (Obama wasn't black enough, you see, having no slave ancestry…) until South Carolina proved their troops weren't following.
How fast things are changing: five years ago, Prop 8 passed in Blue California, and now we have even Republicans talking about repealing Clinton's Doma, we have the President's Inaugural putting Seneca Falls, Selma and Stonewall on equal footing (How we missed our son Kolya that day!)
I wish I could give the book 5 stars, because of the subject, but it's just not good enough.

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most compelling, necessary biographies of a 20th century American I've ever read. Revelatory. Professor D'Emilio has done us all a great service. Cannot recommend more highly.

[Ben Moody · Rating 5 out of 5]

The life and times of the forgotten leader of the Civil Rights Movement. He spent most of his life advocating justice and non-violent resistance, helping advance the causes of liberty and equality not only in America, but also around the world. Openly and unapologetically gay, he also helped advance the cause of gay rights in America. Largely forgotten today, this book will open your eyes and help you better understand that the Civil Rights Movement was more than "I Have a Dream."

[Mark Hillsman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent biography of one of the great unsung heroes of the American Civil Rights movement. Not for the casual reader and it helps to have some general knowledge of the movement and an interest in American history during the 40's 50's and 60's. If this is you, highly recommended.

[Shoshanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

another good person to learn from in civil rights movement

[Kennethwarrenwilson]

It's terrible that his story isn't as talked about as that of Martin Luther King, Jr's. This was a great man, as well.

[X-topher Budz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bayard Rustin was a total babe.

[Amy Holodak · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating, exhaustively researched biography. I learned so much about Bayard Rustin, a pacifist (conscientious objector during WWII) and nonviolent civil rights organizer (the 1963 March on Washington was largely his brainchild). His role as mentor and advisor to MLK Jr. cannot be overstated. Due to homophobia and fears that his sexuality would be a distraction from the message, Rustin was kept in the background, seen as a strategist but not a spokesperson, which is why I'm sure so many of us have never heard his story.

At the risk of sounding like a dummy, this book is so heavily researched that at some points it's hard to read. You can't easily have narrative flow when packing twelve quotes into one paragraph.

[Elizabeth Higginbotham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book about a man that many people did not notice. He was progressive, even in jail during World War II as a conscientious objector. Ruskin has a long history of involvement with the peace movement, labor rights, as well as Civil Rights. He took many risk as a gay Black man during this era, but many recognized his talents as he was behind organizing the 1963 March on Washington. There were many others in the background.
An amazing life and D'Emilio does an excellent job in introducing Ruskin to a wider audience.

[Jack Sinclair · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for a school project (but more accurately I used the school project as an excuse to read the book lol).
Anyways, it was an interesting read and I enjoyed learning about who Bayard Rustin was, his political ideology, and how it changed over time. It kind of helped contextualize for me the way(s) that activism happens and how much work actually goes into social justice movements. Although, sometimes I didn't want to come back and continue reading the book just because there's soo much detail! Obviously for a biography a lot of detail is good since it fleshes out the person more, it's just sometimes I would get lost in the nitty-gritty political details that explained who was allied with whom and what organization did this or believed that, and how Rustin was involved in it all.
I mean, I guess I also found this book interesting for the political beliefs Rustin explored and the causes he got involved in. It might help that I'm pretty leftist so many times I admired Rustin's dedication to his principles of nonviolence and his commitment to racial and economic justice. There's a lot about this era that I don't know, particularly the anti-colonial movements in Africa that he got involved in, or the antinuclear movement. I liked seeing this other side to history as seen through one man's actions and involvement in various social justice causes.

It's a little eerie to see how D'Emilio narrates Rustin's viewpoints and visions of the future. Eerie in that...Rustin fought his whole life in these progressive circles against very hostile and/or apathetic forces. The way these time periods are articulated: what they were fighting for ideally vs. what actually ended up happening and thus, how that changed the political landscape - it helped contextualize the current political climate in a way I had not considered before. The shift from liberal government policies in the 1930's and 40's to conservatism in the 70's and 80's makes more sense and I sensed parallels to today (maybe not direct parallels, but a mirroring of today's reactionary/activist dynamics).
I find it really cool how, when writing a biography, there's a sense of history that you can weave in. Or just like, when you're actually living all these events and you have all these goals and missions for how to achieve justice, you don't know how it's gonna turn out in the end or what effect it'll have. When you can look back at the entire course of someone's life, then you can "see the future" in a way and analyze how this one event did or didn't impact political currents.

I'm not really sure how I can articulate what exactly fascinates me about reading this guy's life story. He was a remarkable, charismatic person and lived through many of the major conflicts of the 20th century. He was also heavily involved in (or at least cared a lot about) these major conflicts, so his life intertwines with history in such a unique and fascinating way. The additional element of his sexuality makes it more intriguing, because then there's this other layer of history on top of the more known narratives of race conflicts and war. Gay culture pre-gay liberation is another topic I don't know too much about, but seeing it through the view of Bayard Rustin's life is an interesting way to learn it.

Also, learning more detail about the civil rights movement in the US makes me realize the extent of racism in this country AND that this was not long ago! It reminds me that although progress has been made, we can't underestimate how much there is still to do (and not that I don't believe black people when they say stuff like "racism in America is still bad", I guess just learning the extent to which racists did bad shit so recently, it's like wow...that type of behaviour doesn't just disappear, the latent effects must still be happening...no wonder police brutality is still so commonplace, it just never went away).

OK, I think that's all the thoughts I had about this book and I don't know if they make too much sense, but this is mostly for my own memory and not other people's benefit...sorry lol :P

[Richard Derus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Real Rating: 4.5* of five

The Publisher Says: Bayard Rustin is one of the most important figures in the history of the American civil rights movement. Before Martin Luther King, before Malcolm X, Bayard Rustin was working to bring the cause to the forefront of America's consciousness. A teacher to King, an international apostle of peace, and the organizer of the famous 1963 March on Washington, he brought Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolence to America and helped launch the civil rights movement. Nonetheless, Rustin has been largely erased by history, in part because he was an African American homosexual. Acclaimed historian John D'Emilio tells the full and remarkable story of Rustin's intertwined lives: his pioneering and public person and his oblique and stigmatized private self.

It was in the tumultuous 1930s that Bayard Rustin came of age, getting his first lessons in politics through the Communist Party and the unrest of the Great Depression. A Quaker and a radical pacifist, he went to prison for refusing to serve in World War II, only to suffer a sexual scandal. His mentor, the great pacifist A. J. Muste, wrote to him, "You were capable of making the 'mistake' of thinking that you could be the leader in a revolution...at the same time that you were a weakling in an extreme degree and engaged in practices for which there was no justification."

Freed from prison after the war, Rustin threw himself into the early campaigns of the civil rights and anti-nuclear movements until an arrest for sodomy nearly destroyed his career. Many close colleagues and friends abandoned him. For years after, Rustin assumed a less public role even though his influence was everywhere. Rustin mentored a young and inexperienced Martin Luther King in the use of nonviolence. He planned strategy for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference until Congressman Adam Clayton Powell threatened to spread a rumor that King and Rustin were lovers. Not until Rustin's crowning achievement as the organizer of the 1963 March on Washington would he finally emerge from the shadows that homophobia cast over his career. Rustin remained until his death in 1987 committed to the causes of world peace, racial equality, and economic justice.

Based on more than a decade of archival research and interviews with dozens of surviving friends and colleagues of Rustin's, Lost Prophet is a triumph. Rustin emerges as a hero of the black freedom struggle and a singularly important figure in the lost gay history of the mid-twentieth century. John D'Emilio's compelling narrative rescues a forgotten figure and brings alive a time of great hope and great tragedy in the not-so-distant past.

I CHECKED THIS BOOK OUT OF MY LOCAL LIBRARY. USE THEIR SERVICES OFTEN, THEY NEED US!

My Review: So, after deciding that I wanted a biography of the complex gay man Bayard Rustin while reading essays about him, I found this hefty tome. I love library lending because I couldn't justify spending full price on a book I expected to admire not like when my $12 investment represents 5% of my total monthly spending power.

I'm going to buy it for myself now because I want to support this historian whose stylish writing and tireless researching of a crucial figure in gay and Black history has enriched my life.

Rustin's Quaker upbringing strongly influenced his social-justice compass and his anti-violence stance. He refused to serve any military or enabling function in World War II, serving instead jail time for following his conscience. He was consistently anti-war and anti-colonialist in his world view, modeling his resistance to them on Mohandas K. Gandhi's successful anti-British actions in India. Rustin, and mentor A. Philip Randolph, founder and leader of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, planned a mass march on Washington in 1941 for the same goals that the 1963 event had (Jobs and Justice) but called it off because President Roosevelt asked them to. The brink of war was used as an excuse to delay urgent public action...as always...but both men were active in making sure the March on Washington took place, at last, in 1963. We remember it mostly for assassinated leader Martin Luther King, Jr.,'s rousing and glorious "I Have A Dream" speech. If, like most, you've only ever seen the highlight reel version, go treat yourself to the entire seventeen and a half minutes at the link. But Randolph, responding to ongoing scurrilous efforts to paint MLK and Rustin as sexual lovers not friends, really shone in his ringing defense of Rustin's involvement as the leader and backstage manager of this titanic event that kickstarted so many changes in US society: "Bayard Rustin IS the March on Washington." He faced down, on behalf of his gay friend and fellow life-long resistor of social and political injustice, the President of the USA, J. Edgar Hoover of the FBI...arguably the more powerful of the two men...and Adam Clayton Powell, Harlem's immensely influential Congressman, who coveted Rustin's control and directive roles.

The over five hundred pages of this story aren't a chore to read. The reason is that Author D'Emilio made the effort to make it a story. Many, if not most, biographers are excellent researchers and fans of their subjects; fewer wre storytellers with an eye for the illustrative anecdote. My best example is the moment when, during a public meeting after the Montgomery, Ala., church bombing killed four little girls, Rustin took those loudly calling for a violent response to task by accusing them of proposing to accomplish nothing.

That is some kind of drama, folks, and it perfectly encapsulates a lifetime of Rustin's moral and political learning.
What leads me to talk about this lost prophet, buried in homophobic judgment, in connection with the essays just published about him, is the fact that Rustin had so much internal-to-the-struggle opposition to cope with that his never hidden, never centered homosexuality was never the focus of his resistance to power's abuses. Bear in mind that a known, avowed homosexual Black man was principally responsible for the community activism model and playbooks that succeeded in achieving the end of the legal fig-leaf of Jim Crow laws in the US. Could he have done the same had he set his sights on axhieving the same for queer folk, when the DSM-II of NINETEEN SIXTY-EIGHT still defined homosexuality as a mental illness, and the Feds led by Hoover had barely stopped the Lavender Scare? During the latter events, do not ignore, Rustin was a victim and STILL LED THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON!

Sorry. The awfulness of his treatment during his life by his fellow Quakers and Christians, and after his death by literally everyone simply forgetting he existed, lead me to the shouting.

The man himself noted that liberals couldn't hate Blacks and Latinos anymore, but they sure could—and did—hate fags. Realist that he was, he spent his life of organizing, resisting, and inspiring in the fields where he could do the most good. Admirably clear-sighted and honestly, to me at least, movingly generous of spirit of him not to insist on perfection but work for better. Events have proven his approach was effective for QUILTBAG folk as much as for ethnic minorities.

I salute author D'Emilio for putting in the hard labor and the gigantic energy to create this readable, enjoyable story of an important and ignored man, his life and his loves and his legacy. A perfect accompaniment to Bayard Rustin: A Legacy of Protest and Politics.
*hyperlinks to sources in blogged review

[Lamont O'Neal · Rating 4 out of 5]

With the rise of Black Lives Matter, and the recent opening of the African American Museum in Washington DC, there has been a renewed focus on Martin Luther King and other activists in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's. This biography introduces Bayard Rustin as one of the major architects of the non-violent protests of that period. That Rustin is not as well know as say, Congressman John Lewis - former head of SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) is attributed at least in part to Rustin's homosexuality. It was assumed among his colleagues at the time that public knowledge of his gayness would be used to discredit the crusade.

The book is an engrossing and fascinating look at a genuine American hero. It was Rustin with his decades long work as a leader in progressive social movements who convinced MLK that non-violent civil disobedience was the only way to end racial segregation. And it was Rustin's idea to reshape the struggle for civil rights as a moral campaign played out on television screens across America.

Rustin, an African American Quaker, was a member of the pacifist group the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), the War Resisters League, and briefly, a member of the Communist Party. He was a passionate and articulate conscientious objector during WW ll and consequently went to prison. It was there that he had a sexual relationship with another inmate. The discovery of that sexual relationship by prison authorities, and the obvious fall out, would hamper his ability to lead other movements for the rest of his life. To complicate matters further Rustin would later be arrested periodically for public sex.

D'Emilio, a gay man, is sympathetic to Rustin's "falls from grace." The author makes it clear that before the gay revolutions of the late '60s and 70's, it would have been hard for any gay men to carve out a life for themselves, and have a high profile public face. Rustin, whatever his faults, never shied away from his homosexuality. A master strategist, and a inspiring activist - he was the chief organizer for the 1963 March on Washington - he became for a time the behind the scenes advisor and go to guy for anyone connected with social change for three decades.

In 2013 President Barack Obama posthumously awarded Rustin the Presidential Medal of Freedom.